I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

Author:Sarah Kuhn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

The fabric store is stuffed into one of the big shopping arcades in Kyoto—a long street covered by a tunnel-like structure. Light filters through the high, curved ceiling, illuminating the jumble of shops selling everything from cheerful rainbows of stationery to elaborately carved walking sticks to Buddha statues of every size imaginable (okay, not as large as the Buddha I saw yesterday, but I’m trying not to think about that, dammit).

I find myself nearly bumping into people as I attempt to maneuver my way through the dense mix of tourists and locals, my senses constantly overwhelmed by all the cool new things to see. I can’t help but imagine myself here with Bex and Atsuko—Bex ferreting out whimsically printed notebooks and hard-to-find manga and Atsuko complaining that her feet hurt and coming up with excuses for us to stop at every snack shop along the way.

My obaasan moves through with ease, zigzagging her way through the crush of people, on a mission to the fabric store. When we finally reach our destination, the space looks deceptively small and gray and nondescript from the outside. But a low table boasting a tiny basket of brightly colored remnants sitting at the entrance catches my eye and my heart starts to beat a little bit faster.

Once we cross the gray threshold, my eyeballs are overwhelmed by the color and pattern explosion—there are shelves and shelves of beautiful bolts of fabric. And I haven’t even gotten to the side displays of ribbon and yarn and buttons. My gaze darts everywhere, unsure of where to land. I’m practically drooling. Maybe this place keeps its exterior purposefully bland so the inside is more of a wow.

“I would suggest a lighter weight cotton,” my grandmother says, guiding me toward a particular section of the fabric shelves. “This style will work with a variety of materials, but I believe the cotton provides the right weight and movement for the ruffled details on the front.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too—a lighter cotton will hold the shape without being too stiff,” I say, studying the feast of fabrics in front of me. My fingertips brush over their soft textures. I love the possibilities contained in new fabric. It has the potential to be so many beautiful things.

My hand lingers on a bolt of bright pink with a pattern of white cherry blossoms and scattered gold threads. Something about it sparks immediate joy in my heart—it’s so cheery, like a happy little song in fabric form. The gold gives it a sense of drama. And seeing it sandwiched between the bright oranges and reds of the fabrics around it sets my brain spinning—I’m already thinking about what I could pair it with, what kinds of “clashing” combinations I could come up with. Inspiration laces its way through my heart and I feel like I did when I saw the girls in their beautiful yukata and obi in the bamboo forest.

But this particular fabric is probably too loud. I should go with basic black for this blouse, like what Grandma has.

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